Amid the changes in raw cashew prices, VINACAS and its members will focus more on increasing quality, processing and developing the domestic market.

This year, the sector hopes to earn US$3 billion from selling 300,000 tonnes of cashew, down 2 percent in volume and value from 2017.

Firms will face losses if they buy raw cashew at high prices to fulfill the target export value of US$4 billion in 2018, Nguyen Duc Thanh, VINACAS president explained.

The association is working with the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on developing cashew material zones, aiming to increase the country’s output to one million tonnes in the next 10 years.